There are many ways to provide food products to both domestic (pet) and farm animals. When dealing with situations where the animal is tempted to consume all of its food in one relatively short time interval, the task is an easy one. In this instance, food and water is simply presented to the animal, consumption takes place and the feed container removed for later use.
There are, however, instances where food must be made available to an animal to enable it to feed at will. Such situations include instances where animals are encouraged to increase weight such as when animals are intended for slaughter for later human consumption. Also, there are situations where an animal must be left unattended for long periods of time. As a result, there is a need to provide food to the animal on a demand basis knowing that the presented food supply is of a quantity which the animal could not possibly consume at a single feeding.
On demand feeding presents certain practical problems which are of a major concern. For example, if the food was to be left exposed for even relatively short periods of time, spoilage could be accelerated by exposure to direct sunlight. In addition, insects bearing various diseases would, in all likelihood, be attracted to the food product which may result in transmission of various diseases to the animal itself. Furthermore, the food product may attract unwanted animals who may look upon the food supply as their own. Aggressive non-domesticated animals may become so insistent in pursuing the seeming readily available food supply that they may either singly or in packs not only consume the food to the exclusion of the intended animal to be fed but may also intimidate a domestic animal preventing it from approaching its food on an as-needed basis.
There have been a wide variety of animal feeders which have attempted to address the above-recited concerns. However, such devices have often proven to be so inadequate or complex that the average domestic or farm animal is incapable of actuating the device to provide for food presentation on a selective basis. Other products have proven to be unreliable and still further products tend to frighten timid animals when employed such that the animal would rather starve than to approach and actuate the appropriate mechanism for providing for the presentation of its food supply.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a feeder for the selective presentation of food products to animals which overcomes the shortcomings recited above.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a feeder for the selective presentation of food products to animals which is simple in construction and unlikely to present a complex, unreliable or intimidating presentation to an animal seeking food.